Aligning the goal posts

After the chaotic day when the goal posts were assembled and raised, we still had to do some more work to make sure they were aligned correctly. There are several things that need to be checked: squareness of joints, vertical plumb (checked with a level), the spacing between the posts (must be same on second floor as on the first floor), and straightness.

Due to slight variations in beam width and twists and bows in the posts (2x4s are not perfect), it was impossible to achieve perfection on all measurements. The best we could do was make sure that the posts were as close to vertical as possible, then check for spacing, making sure that no spaces between posts were less than 2 feet 10.5 inches (so that windows could fit). Finally we had to make sure that the posts on one side were in a straight line upstairs, so that we’d have a good base for starting the decking. All this fiddly checking took a long time (probably one full-time day) due to all the measurements combined much detaching and reattaching of the braces.

We got one row of decking nailed down on the second floor before noticing a problem with the straightness: the first decking board was not in the same line as the next two. I managed to fix this by pulling the goal post where first and second decking board met (which is where the divergence from a straight line occurred), using a couple of tie-down straps with ratcheting turnbuckles.

Fixing the next set of goal posts should go a lot faster since we now know what steps to take and in which order to take them.